Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

DNC Opposes Virtual Iowa Caucuses; Trump's Personal Assistant Forced to Resign; Interview With Port St. Lucie, Florida, Mayor Gregory Oravec; Florida Braces For Hurricane Dorian. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 30, 2019 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:23]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Top of the hour on a busy Friday. I'm Ana Cabrera, in for Brooke today.

Hurricane Dorian is gaining power, but taking its time churning up the Atlantic. Just in the last hour, the storm strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane and will keep getting stronger until it makes landfall in Florida.

Where that will happen and where it will go from there is anyone's guess. But the impact is already being felt. The governor reports statewide gas shortages.

Home Depot is sending in truckloads of much needed equipment and supplies.

And President Trump, who canceled his trip to Poland to monitor this storm, has approved an emergency declaration. He's personally affected as well, as he owns nearly a dozen properties in South Florida.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

CABRERA: People are stocking up on critical supplies, gas, water, food, batteries. It is a mad rush right now to prepare. The lines are extremely long.

At gas stations, some locations have actually run out of fuel and water.

CNN's Leyla Santiago is in North Miami at a very busy Costco this afternoon, where people are loading up -- Leyla.

[15:05:03]

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

The manager here tells me that they have seen a 60 percent increase in foot traffic. You can see folks are coming out are coming out. And this woman is a good example. She has her cart filled with water. That's what we have been seeing for the last few hours that we have been here, people loading up on water, food, anything that they believe they may need, should power go out, should the resources below if Hurricane Dorian takes a toll here.

So we have been talking to people as they have been coming out. One of the things that everyone seems to mention over and over, they're saying, hey, we remember Irma. We remember what it was like when that happened.

I'm actually going to ask this woman.

Ma'am, excuse me. Hi.

I see you got some water here. What is your greatest fear for the next few days? I mean, what are you preparing for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. I don't know what I have to say, but...

SANTIAGO: Well, you're clearly preparing, so that's a good thing. Thank you so...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so. I hope so.

SANTIAGO: Hoping this thing turns around. Thank you so much. Please be safe out there.

Here's another gentleman that appears to be preparing.

Sir, it looks like you're getting ready for Dorian. What all did you pick up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I buy a few things for my kids, you know?

SANTIAGO: Buying some things for your kids.

What's your biggest concern? What are you worried about here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can for now to pray God, God to protect us. That's it.

SANTIAGO: Praying right now.

Thank you. Please stay safe out there.

But you can already see, I mean, every single card that comes out has water, water and basics here, as folks are preparing for Hurricane Dorian.

I'm going to ask this woman as well.

Ma'am, I see you're coming out with water. You're ready for the storm?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

SANTIAGO: OK.

And what else have you picked up here? You have got some food. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever I need for the baby.

SANTIAGO: Whatever you need for the baby.

How many days do you think you're prepared for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know.

SANTIAGO: You don't know?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it's going to be that bad.

SANTIAGO: OK. She's hoping it's not going to be that bad.

But I will tell you local officials here have asked people to be prepared for at least seven days.

Sir, you're prepared as well. You have got some water, some eggs, some quinoa, organic quinoa. I will add that as well. Tell me what you're feeling right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, a little nervous. This -- we moved down from Washington state. So this is our first experience with a hurricane.

But we have earthquakes up in Washington. So...

SANTIAGO: This is your first -- your first hurricane here.

OK, well stay safe. Thank you so much for sharing what you picked up with us here.

There we go. I think we talked to, what, four or five people. And you're seeing that people are preparing a little bit, a different tone from people as to whether they think this is serious or not. But, clearly, they're taking note that this is the time to prepare.

I will make one more note. One woman just came out of there and, right before we went live, said they're out of water. So what you just saw was likely the last bit of water for now.

The manager tells me they have trucks picking up more water, but when they will arrive and how long that will last is anyone's guess -- Ana.

CABRERA: It's good to see people taking everything seriously, preparing the way they have been instructed. And no one can control what Mother Nature brings with it, but they can do their best to prepare.

SANTIAGO: That's right.

CABRERA: Leyla Santiago, I appreciate that.

The exact spot in Florida where Hurricane Dorian will make landfall remains a mystery. So, every city up and down the eastern coastline is preparing. And joining us on the phone now is Gregory Oravec, the mayor of Port St. Lucie.

Thank you, mayor, for being with us.

I know your city has been preparing for Dorian for at least a week, you say. How have you been getting ready?

GREGORY ORAVEC, MAYOR OF PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA: We have the whole playbook.

So it depends on the day, but every system, from stormwater (AUDIO GAP) the buildings (AUDIO GAP). We have a number of building sites active, construction sites. And the city does have (AUDIO GAP) lakes and conveniences, ditches, waterways (AUDIO GAP) possible (AUDIO GAP) the rain.

Of course, communication, as you know, is huge, so that we're communicating to our 200,000 residents. So there is a complete playbook. And we make sure that we take (AUDIO GAP) time on that list.

CABRERA: You have done this before. Port St. Lucie has seen a lot of hurricanes. I know you all were hit by Irma pretty hard in 2017, with millions of dollars in damages.

What lessons did you learn? And how does that inform your prepping for Dorian?

ORAVEC: We have to go back further than that.

And it's been interesting as we had the conversation. So, Irma was in '17, but in 2004, Port St. Lucie (AUDIO GAP) were hit by Frances and Jeanne three weeks apart (AUDIO GAP) by a Category 2 and then a Category 3 within three weeks.

So we have been through that. We have -- certainly, we have learned from that (AUDIO GAP) all those lessons. And then we also, of course, had things like Wilma and Tropical Storm Fay. So, we have through a number of storms.

[15:10:11]

My concern, as I listened to the previous segment about what people (AUDIO GAP) as mayor, my concern is that people understand that Dorian is not Frances and Jeanne, and that every time you go up a category, it's not a -- it's not just a linear increase in power.

So there's a much (AUDIO GAP) there's a great difference between a Dorian and a Frances and Jeanne or an Irma, how it impacted us. Irma for Port St. Lucie was a tropical storm event, certainly wasn't a Category 4 hurricane.

So whoever bears the brunt of Dorian has to be ready for a different level of impact. We can't take it for granted.

CABRERA: You say, today and tomorrow, that people should be putting up shutters and protecting their homes, businesses.

How do you know when your building is good enough? How do that you have done enough to prepare?

ORAVEC: Well, and this is something that every homeowner has to answer for him or herself.

So we have a seasoned team doing everything we can at the community level. But what's even more important is that the people of Port St. Lucie and everyone in that cone of probability or uncertainty are taking the time to, number one, shutter or board the home, two, make sure (AUDIO GAP) food, water and medicine for each person in the house.

And, by the way, a lot of people don't know what that is. It's about a gallon per person per day is what it is. Stay tuned to the National Hurricane Center and your favorite news channel, local news and, in our case (AUDIO GAP).

And then, once you do that, please help your friends or neighbors, starting with the elderly. And in the previous segment, you had the guy from Washington, a newcomer to Florida, has no idea what it's like.

Got to reach out to him, share with him the experience and just make sure that they're right and that they're ready. And double-check your hurricane preparedness list. Go through that list, including the radio and mosquito repellent, talking about, hey, how much do you need? What happens if power is not there?

Frances and Jeanne, no power two weeks.

CABRERA: Wow.

ORAVEC: Seventeen days, 21 days, are you ready for that? And then consider whether you're safe or not. Are you in a flood zone? Are you in a manufactured home? Are you in a home that hasn't had its roof upgraded? Do you have friends in a new house?

Would you feel safer there? Those are the questions that I as mayor really want the people to ask themselves, just in case you have the direct hit of a Category 4. You can't make that decision when the wind is blowing 140 miles an hour. You had to make it in advance and you had to be on the road and to your destination before the onset of those tropical force winds.

CABRERA: And I will just add something I read that you had said previously. If you can see the wind in the storm, that means you haven't hardened your structure as much as possible. I thought that was really interesting, especially for somebody who maybe has not been through a hurricane before. Good advice.

Thank you, Mayor Oravec. I appreciate your time. And we look forward to being in touch with you and praying everybody stays safe there.

ORAVEC: Thank you, ma'am. CABRERA: She has been with the Trump administration since day one,

and with her office directly in front of the Oval Office, she worked as the president's gatekeeper, but now she's abruptly resigned. We will tell you why just ahead.

Plus, a shocking story out of Colorado, a pregnant woman left to give birth in a jail alone. She says no one responded to her desperate cries for help. And now she's suing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:29]

CABRERA: Well, the revolving door at the White House has another member of the Trump administration now on the way out.

This time, it's President Trump's personal assistant. Madeleine Westerhout has been with the president since day one of his administration, and many considered her one of the president's most loyal staffers.

But Westerhout was forced to resign after the president discovered she shared intimate details about the president's family with reporters in an off-the-record dinner.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now from the White House.

And, Jeremy, as I understand it, these off-the-record meetings are running relatively common. Did she cross the line on the type of information she shared?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, multiple sources are now telling us that Madeleine Westerhout, who until recently served as the president's personal assistant, was forced to resign after she shared intimate details about the president's family during one of these recent off-the-record dinners.

And that indeed was a red line for the president, as are most things when it comes to his family. We have seen that repeatedly in the past. Now, Westerhout, this departure was viewed fairly shockingly for a number of White House officials.

She has been the president's sec -- sorry -- assistant since the early days of the Trump administration. And that's despite the fact that when the president actually won reelection and she was an RNC staffer, she was reportedly in tears over his election. And those were not tears of joy.

But after becoming the president's personal assistant, she quickly earned his trust and the trust of many other senior White House officials, becoming a key gatekeeper to the president the last two- and-a-half years.

[15:20:03]

And so, while Madeleine Westerhout may not be a household name, her departure certainly will have a large impact at this White House -- Ana.

CABRERA: OK, Jeremy Diamond, thanks for laying it all out for us.

Let's discuss with Michael D'Antonio, who is a Donald Trump biographer and author of the book "The Truth About Trump." Michael is also a CNN contributor.

Michael, Westerhout has been with the President Trump day one, as we mentioned, someone who was seen as a daughter and considered very loyal to him. Are you surprised that he decided to let her go?

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I'm not surprised.

I think working for Donald Trump is a very difficult thing. This is a rather young woman who's not quite 30 years old. Her experience in the world is not very broad. She had worked with the RNC in the Romney campaign and then prior to that was an exercise instructor.

So she didn't bring a lot of experience with difficult bosses into the this position. And she wound up sitting outside the office of probably the most difficult boss in the United States and one of the most difficult bosses in the world.

So I have a great deal of empathy for her, and actually am sort of admiring of her ability to hang in there for as long as she did. There were dozens and dozens of people who couldn't achieve that.

CABRERA: What she told these reporters, though, never got into the public sphere, as far as we know. So why does it matter so much?

D'ANTONIO: Well, as folks know, the president is extremely sensitive to comments about his family, extremely sensitive to revelations of secrets.

This could have been something as simple as recounting a story of an exchange between the president and the first lady, or hearing something from Ivanka Trump after she attempted to persuade the president to be less extreme in one policy or another.

But that would be enough, I think, to anger the president. And, in fact, Ms. Westerhout was sort of on thin ice. There were people in the White House who never quite accepted that she was a loyal Trump appointee, and probably were ready to rat on her if they heard that she had done this.

CABRERA: We have talked about Trump thinking he is his own best messenger. We know he has all these acting officials around him. Will he even bother to replace her, do you think?

D'ANTONIO: Oh, I think this is a person whose job must be filled. This is someone who made sure things operated smoothly on a sort of technical side.

And I don't think a president can get along without an assistant of this sort. The next person will be challenged in the same way, though, if that man or woman is reality-based, is someone who had get concerned if she heard that the president wanted to explode nuclear devices to divert hurricanes or pardon people in advance for breaking the law in order to build his wall.

They're going to be challenged too, because this is a very chaotic White House. There's a lot of stuff that goes on that would alarm any normal person. And the desire to send up a signal to warn the public about what's going on would be great.

CABRERA: Michael D'Antonio, always good to have your insight. Thank you very much for being here.

D'ANTONIO: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: The DNC says it is rejecting Iowa's new virtual caucus plan over hacking concerns -- what this means for the Democratic primary in 2020.

Plus, we're keeping an eye on Hurricane Dorian, which has strengthened to a powerful Category 3 storm. First, it'll hit the Bahamas. We will take you there live just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:39]

CABRERA: Iowa is the first state in the nation to hold a 2020 vote. And it wanted to open up a way more people could participate.

But now the DNC is planning to stop that, an effort, they say, in the name of election security. The Democratic National Committee has just blocked a plan that would have allowed for virtual caucuses.

CNN's Dan Merica here to explain this.

Dan, what are DNC officials worried about exactly, and what does this now mean for the Democratic primary process?

DAN MERICA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, the key concern is hacking.

The idea that you could use your phone to vote in a caucus or register your support in a caucus could be -- they're worried could be hacked and could be compromised. And that would undercut the validity of a caucus like the Iowa -- like the Iowa caucus that will happen early next year.

And, really, there's two priorities kind of running into each other inside the Democratic Party. After 2016, there was this desire to open up caucuses, to allow more people to participate, shift workers who may not be able to be there on a set time on a set day because they have work, also people with disabilities.

There are concerns about parents, frankly, their ability to go to these caucuses. And that's butting up against this desire to keep Iowa a caucus and keep Iowa first and have New Hampshire go second and be a primary. A big part of this is the fact that they both brand themselves as the first-in-the-nation caucus, first-in-the-nation primary. That's at odds.

So, Iowa cannot do anything that would infringe on New Hampshire's right, no paper ballots, nothing like that. And that is what is at issue with the Democratic Party

[15:30:00]